On Thursday, September 26, the Joachim Herz Foundation, based in Hamburg, Germany, opened the Joachim Herz House in Covington, Georgia. The learning center is intended to become a place for transatlantic dialog in the southeastern United States. With nearly 5,000 square feet it offers event space for formal conferences and informal workshops for up to 50 participants. It will be available without costs to local non-profit organizations, foundations, transatlantic organizations, and to partners of the Joachim Herz Foundation. 

“The transatlantic dialog was important to our founder Joachim Herz and is still essential for the work of our foundation. The Joachim Herz House is a key hub for fostering a vibrant dialog between the United States and Germany. By establishing this facility, we want to become an integral part of academic and civil society networks in the southeastern United States,” states Sabine Kunst, Chair of the Management Board of the Joachim Herz Foundation. 

Modern equipped venue for workshops and conferences 

The Joachim Herz House is located at 301 Moores Road, in Covington, Georgia, 30016. Its flexible layout can accommodate up to 50 guests, including youth groups, students and researchers. It has first-class technical equipment and is intended for day use only. It can be rented free of charge by regional non-profit organizations, foundations, transatlantic organizations and partners in research and education from both sides of the Atlantic. The learning center is envisioned to become a place of encounter and for new beginnings. German and American students, teachers and researchers can discuss current and future issues in business, science, education and civil society and learn from each other. 

Transformation from a private home to a sustainable learning center 

The project honors the legacy of the late German entrepreneur Joachim Herz, who built a real estate business in the Southeastern United States. Beginning in the mid-1980s, he and his wife spent several months a year at Little Springs Farm. The Joachim Herz House is the former home of the couple, and it has been transformed into a learning center over the last year. The Joachim Herz Foundation is committed to sustainability and the careful stewardship of resources, which is why the house has been sustainably renovated by Jones Pierce Architects. It has been certified with the EarthCraft label from the Southface Institute and is set to become a best practice model for sustainable construction in the Atlanta metro area. The area surrounding the Joachim Herz House is leased to an independent cattle operator and also used for a managed timber business. These activities will continue and will not be impacted by the operation of the House. 

About Joachim Herz Foundation 

The Joachim Herz Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in Germany. It is based in Hamburg, Germany and promotes innovative, application-oriented research at the interfaces between business, engineering, natural sciences, and medicine. It also supports talented trainees on their career path by promoting education with a focus on transatlantic experience, personal skills, and the digital transformation in vocational training. These areas of activity are complemented by the facilitation of projects in the field of German-American exchange. The Joachim Herz Foundation was founded in 2008 after the death of German entrepreneur Joachim Herz.